Southeast Missouri State University graduates carry slightly more debt than the state average but lower than the national.
Spring 2013 Southeast graduates borrowed an average of $23, 954. The national average was $26,600.
Southeast president Ken Dobbins said the reason students have to take out more loans is that students who need state assistance don’t always receive it.
“Access Missouri is the only need-based program in the state of Missouri,” Dobbins said. “It has been cut so significantly. We have over 3,000 students on Access Missouri that they have lost over $3 million every year.”
Southeast graduate Ashley Bennett said even with her grants and scholarships she still accumulated $19,000 in loan debt. Bennett said that she doesn’t believe her journalism career will be very beneficial when it comes to paying back her loans.
“Journalism is like a hit and miss type of field to me. Once you start out in journalism you’re not going to be making the big bucks that you expect to be making. You just have to build up your experience,” Bennett said.
Meanwhile, Dobbins said the state has invested $29 million into the A Plus scholarship program for community colleges, which is not need-based.
